Everything is Marketing – Get Rid of Brand Flab!

Over the past week they’ve beaten us over the head like a rolled up newspaper: New Year’s resolutions. And every year the same resolutions top the list: lose weight, exercise, spend more time with the family. It’s enough to send us into paroxysms of guilt and self-loathing.

So we say fuggehdaboutit. To hell with personal resolutions, 2012 is the year for Brand Resolutions! Wait, let’s do the annoying marketing thing and make up a hybrid name: Brandsolutions!

Lose weight: drop the excess baggage by cutting those dead-weight skus. Drop the unsightly promotions that make your brands look sloppy. Don’t chase every customer like a ravenous dieter hunts down donuts. Instead, develop a clear, focused strategy and get rid of the brand flab!

Exercise: strap on your walking shoes and hit the streets. Get into the stores and reach out and touch your customers (figuratively, we don’t need 2012 to be the year of posting bail).

Spend more time with your family: of brands that is. Take a few moments each day to sit with each of your brands, listen to what they have to say (those analytics and consumer insights speak volumes), be sensitive to their needs, give them a little extra lovin’. After all, they are your closest friends in business.

There you go. Doable, I think! So cut yourself some slack and make 2012 The Year of Your Brand.